Ubuntu Unleashed (2nd Edition) (Unleashed)

List Price: $49.99 Discount Price: $22.56

Customer Reviews:

Not detailed in LINUX basics...... [Posted on 2007-06-08]
Not as good as I thought it should be. Not very detail writing.

Too much bloat [Posted on 2007-07-16]
Well, I saw the book at Barnes&Nobles before ordering it from Amazon, therefore I was already fully prepared to face numerous chapters of stuff I don't need. It is one of those unfortunate cases when authors simply want to cover everything, without scratching deep any particular topic.

Seriously, how could they pack "Burning CDs in Gnome" and "Apache2 Configuration" into the same bag? And you won't become an expert in Apache after reading it, by the way. Well... did you expect to? :)

In my case it was probably what I needed anyway, because I had not had any significant Linux knowledge, so I figured having one of those bricks laying in the far corner of a bookshielf would be helpful.

For deeper understanding of Linux I used web and "Running Linux" by Matthias Dalheimer, which I highly recommend.

Not worth the money [Posted on 2007-08-10]
I pre-ordered this book weeks before it was released. I did so because it came with the newest version of the installation media. However, the content within the book has NOT been updated as well as it should. There are whole sections that are wholly inaccurate due to the fact that certain aspects of the software have changed. For those that respect a publishers inability to keep up with constantly changing versions, be aware that at least some of the changes (most notably a start up procedure called UPSTART) have changed 2 VERSIONS ago. Joining the publishers on-line membership, which promises updates and errata, offers absolutely nothing in regards to the outdated material.
As far as the authors, I do think this is a very well written, easy to read and understand book, which is why I didn't give it the worst rating.

Not deep enough for the initiated, too many errors for noobs [Posted on 2007-09-26]
One of the early lessons in the book outlines a procedure that is for Dapper (a previous version) that does not work for Ubuntu 7.04. Unfortunately, this is just one example of the many frustrations caused by the sloppy editing in an uncharacteristically poor effort by the Unleashed bunch.

If you're willing to use the Ubuntu Forums (or any third-party) to identify the apps that you'd like to run, I may be able to save you thirty bucks. The middle 80% of the book seems to repeat the following three messages over and over:
1. The app is in Synaptic
2. Set it up with info on the web or in the 'man' pages
3. If confused, consult a deeper source

If you've been playing with Linux for more than a couple of months, this book will probably be beneath you. If you're completely new, there are better books out there. The other reviewers have named some good ones; I would start there.

don't waste your money on this POS [Posted on 2008-05-04]
poorly written, poorly organised, appears to be written by hack artists to make a fast buck. You're better off with google.

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